OPEN ROOF CONSTRUCTION FOR A VEHICLE

Abstract

An open roof construction for a vehicle comprises at least a movable lever to which, by means of a pin-like member, a slide shoe is connected that, for defining a movement of the movable lever, cooperates with and moves longitudinally along a guide. The pin-like member at a first end is connected to said lever and at a second end is connected to said slide shoe and the guide and slide shoe are provided with at least one pair of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part. The pin-like member at its second end is provided with an enlarged head configured to engage the slide shoe at a side thereof facing away from the lever. The dimensions of the enlarged head are such that, as seen in a direction from the enlarged head towards the lever, at least part of said enlarged head overlaps at least one guide part.

Claims

1. An open roof construction for a vehicle, comprising: a panel; a guide; and a moving mechanism configured to move the panel between different positions, the moving mechanism comprising: at least a movable lever; a slide shoe that cooperates with and moves longitudinally along the guide; and a pin-like member, wherein the pin-like member at a first end is connected to said lever and at a second end is connected to said slide shoe and wherein the guide and slide shoe are provided with at least one pair of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part, wherein the pin-like member at its second end is provided with an enlarged head configured to engage the slide shoe at a side thereof facing away from the lever, wherein dimensions of the enlarged head are such that, as seen in a direction from the enlarged head towards the lever, at least part of said enlarged head overlaps at least one guide part.

2. The open roof construction according to claim 1, wherein the guide is provided with two guide parts at opposite sides of the pin-like member, whereas the slide shoe is provided with two slide shoe parts at opposite sides of the pin-like member, such as to define two opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part.

3. The open roof construction according to claim 2, wherein the enlarged head is configured so as to overlap both opposite guide parts.

4. The open roof construction according to claim 3, wherein the enlarged head has an asymmetrical design.

5. The open roof construction according to claim 2, wherein both opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part are located between the enlarged head and the lever.

6. The open roof construction according to claim 3, wherein both opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part are located between the enlarged head and the lever.

7. The open roof construction according to claim 2, wherein only a first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head and the lever, at the side of the enlarged head facing towards the lever, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the enlarged head facing away from the lever.

8. The open roof construction according to claim 3, wherein only a first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head and the lever, at the side of the enlarged head facing towards the lever, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the enlarged head facing away from the lever.

9. The open roof construction according to claim 2, wherein only a first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head and the lever, at the side of the enlarged head facing towards the lever, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the lever facing away from the enlarged head.

10. The open roof construction according to claim 3, wherein only a first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head and the lever, at the side of the enlarged head facing towards the lever, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the lever facing away from the enlarged head.

11. The open roof construction according to claim 1, wherein the slide shoe is provided with a reinforcement member extending at least partially between the enlarged head and a pair of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part.

12. The open roof construction according to claim 11, wherein the reinforcement member is at least partially embedded in the slide shoe.

13. The open roof construction according to claim 12, wherein the reinforcement member is entirely embedded in the slide shoe.

14. The open roof construction according to claim 11, wherein both opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part are located between the enlarged head and the lever, and wherein the reinforcement member extends between the enlarged head and both opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part.

15. The open roof construction according to claim 12, wherein both opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part are located between the enlarged head and the lever, and wherein the reinforcement member extends between the enlarged head and both opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part.

16. The open roof construction according to claim 11, wherein only a first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head and the lever, at the side of the enlarged head facing towards the lever, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the enlarged head facing away from the lever, and wherein the reinforcement member firstly extends between the enlarged head and the first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part and secondly extends at the side of the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part facing away from the lever.

17. The open roof construction according to claim 1, wherein the respective cooperating guide parts and slide shoe parts comprise longitudinally extending guide walls and longitudinally extending slide shoe recesses, respectively.

18. The open roof construction according to claim 7, wherein the first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is positioned above the pin-like member, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is positioned below the pin-like member.

19. The open roof construction according to claim 9, wherein the first one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is positioned above the pin-like member, whereas the second one of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is positioned below the pin-like member.

20. The open roof construction according to claim 1, wherein the lever is U-shaped in the region where the pin-like member is attached thereto.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] Hereinafter the invention will be elucidated by means of the drawings, in which:

[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a general view of a vehicle provided with an open roof construction, comprising a panel which is shown in an open position;

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates part of a moving mechanism for the panel;

[0023] FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of said part of the moving mechanism;

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a lever, slide shoe and pin-like member in a disassembled state, and

[0025] FIGS. 5-11 show cross-sectional views of different embodiments of the open roof construction according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In FIG. 1 part of a vehicle 1 is shown which in its stationary roof 2 is provided with an open roof construction 3. Part of the open roof construction is a panel 4 which can be moved between different positions (such as a closed position and the open position illustrated in FIG. 1) by means of a moving mechanism 5 (see FIG. 2).

[0027] The precise construction and operation of the moving mechanism 5 is not relevant for the present invention. It only is important that it firstly comprises at least a movable lever 6 (FIGS. 3-11). The movable lever 6 may be a front lever attached to a support 7 for the panel 4, but it is noted that the invention is not limited to such a specific type of lever.

[0028] A pin-like member 8 (for example a pin or bolt) with a first end is connected to the lever 6 (for example inserted in a hole 6′ of the lever) and with a second end is connected to a slide shoe 9 (for example partly housed in a recess 9′ of the slide shoe), thus connecting the slide shoe 9 to the lever 6 (while generally allowing the slide shoe 9 to rotate with respect to the lever 6). The slide shoe 9, for defining a movement of the movable lever 6, cooperates with and moves longitudinally along a guide 10. For this, the guide 10 and slide shoe 9 are provided with at least one pair of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part, as will be explained in detail below while discussing the FIGS. 5-11.

[0029] As will appear below, the pin-like member 8 at its second end is provided with an enlarged head 11 intended for engaging the slide shoe 9 at a side thereof facing away from the lever 6. The dimensions of the enlarged head 11 are such that, as seen in a direction from the enlarged head 11 towards the lever 6, at least part of said enlarged head 11 overlaps at least one guide part.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 5, an embodiment is illustrated in cross section in which the guide 10 is provided with two guide parts 12,13 (for example wall parts) at opposite (here upper and lower) sides of the pin-like member 8 and positioned between the enlarged head 11 and the lever 6. The slide shoe 9 is provided with two corresponding slide shoe parts 14,15 (for example recesses) at opposite sides of the pin-like member cooperating with the guide parts 12,13, such as to define two opposite pairs 12,14 and 13,15 each of which comprises a guide part 12,13 and a slide shoe part 14,15 cooperating with each other.

[0031] In FIG. 5 one can see that, as seen in the viewing direction according to arrow V, the enlarged head 11 of the pin-like member 8 overlaps both the guide parts 12 and 13 (in this embodiment one also could say that the width of a gap defined between the opposite guide parts 12 and 13 is smaller than the diameter or width of the enlarged head 11).

[0032] The embodiment according to FIG. 6 is similar to that according to FIG. 5, but in this embodiment the enlarged head 11 has an asymmetrical design.

[0033] In FIG. 7 again an embodiment is illustrated similar to that of FIG. 5. Now, however, the slide shoe 9 additionally is provided with a reinforcement member 16 extending (at least partially) between the enlarged head 11 and the two pairs 12,14 and 13,15 of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part. In the illustrated embodiment the reinforcement member 16 is at least partially, and preferably entirely, embedded in the slide shoe 9.

[0034] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 only a first pair 12,14 of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head 11 and the movable lever 6 (or, in other words, at the side of the enlarged head 11 facing towards the movable lever 6, in this figure at the left from the enlarged head 11), whereas the second pair 13,15 of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the enlarged head 11 facing away from the lever 6 (in this figure at the right from the enlarged head 11).

[0035] Now referring to FIG. 9, an embodiment is illustrated which bears much resemblance with the previous embodiment but which now, additionally, is provided with a reinforcement member. As illustrated, a first part 16′ of the reinforcement member extends between the enlarged head 11 and the first pair 12,14 of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part, whereas a second part 16″ of the reinforcement member extends at the side of the second pair 13,15 of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part facing away from the lever 6 (in this figure at the right side of said pair 13,15).

[0036] It should be noted that it also is possible that the reinforcement member only comprises the first part 16′ or only comprises the second part 16″.

[0037] The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10 is quite similar to that illustrated in FIG. 5, but in this embodiment the lever 6 is U-shaped in the region where the pin-like member 8 is attached thereto.

[0038] Finally, FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment in which, again, only the first pair 12,14 of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located between the enlarged head 11 and the lever 6 (at the side of the enlarged head 11 facing towards the lever 6), whereas the second pair 13,15 of said opposite pairs of cooperating guide part and slide shoe part is located at the side of the lever 6 facing away from the enlarged head 11 (thus, in this figure at the left of the lever 6).

[0039] Of course, the positions of the first and second pairs 12,14 and 13,15 could be exchanged (for example in FIG. 11 the (upper) first pair 12,14 could be positioned at the left of the lever 6, whereas the (lower) second pair 13,15 then would be positioned between the lever 6 and the enlarged head 11).

[0040] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described before which may be varied widely within the scope of the invention as defined by the appending claims.